97 Items Tagged

Sex

Ponte delle Tette

In the past, Renaissance sex workers were encouraged to entice customers on this bridge.

Brothel

Pendleton, Oregon

The Cozy Rooms

A statue of the owner stands outside of this museum, once the most popular brothel in town.

Shaking Things Up at the Antique Vibrator Museum

The book was a guide to London's "cottaging" scene.

The Queer History of a 1937 Guide to London's Public Loos

The slim volume on city toilets directed in-the-know readers to discreet hookup spots.

Jessica Leigh Hester January 7, 2020

Red Light Secrets.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Red Light Secrets

This museum housed in a former brothel explores the past and present of sex work in Amsterdam.

The Harvey Girls of the Historic Grand Canyon El Tovar Hotel. Note their prim uniforms.

When American Waitresses Were Labeled 'Women of Ill Repute'

The 400-year history of the restaurant industry's #MeToo moment.

Reina Gattuso September 16, 2019

Oasis Bordello Museum.

Oasis Bordello Museum

After this former brothel closed, its interior remained almost frozen in time.

An illustration of the famous Pie-Girl Dinner from <em>The New York World</em>.

The Girl Who Jumped Out of a Pie and Into a Gilded Age Morality Tale

Susie Johnson sparked America's obsession with erotic cake dancing.

Reina Gattuso April 25, 2019

Greek woman, early fourth century B.C.

To Conceive a Girl in Ancient Greece, Eat a Salad and Tie Your Right Testicle

Doctors wrote recipes to cure patients' ailments and determine the sex of their children.

Reina Gattuso March 7, 2019

Pitos e Ganchas

This gendered sweet swap practically oozes sexual innuendos.

Stone penis.

Stone Phalluses of Pompeii

The walls and streets of the ancient city are peppered with penises.

This illustration of <em>The Love Books of Ovid</em> was, apparently, too much for young minds.

Oxford’s Library Once Branded Its Sauciest Books With a Greek Letter

How James Joyce, Madonna, and Monty Python ended up on the same restricted shelf.

Matthew Taub November 15, 2018

The exterior of Quimby's

Chicago, Illinois

Quimby's Bookstore

The beloved home to all publications indie, erotic, and punky.

The Oneida Community Mansion House.

Oneida, New York

Oneida Community Mansion House

The shared home of a utopian commune that practiced "free love" a century before the hippies.

Hugo was allegedly conceived near the top of Mont Donon.

Grandfontaine, France

Site of Victor Hugo's Conception

A sandstone block marks the alleged spot where the legendary writer was conceived.

An engraving of surgical instruments.

Orificial Surgery Was a Gruesome 19th-Century Sham Medicine

Phrenology (and surgery) below the belt.

Natasha Frost January 16, 2018

This Fish's Propensity for Deafening Orgies Is Both Its Strength and Its Weakness

A single male Gulf covina is louder than a jet engine.

Cara Giaimo December 21, 2017

Erotic art.

Larco Museum's Erotic Art

The large collection of pre-Columbian pottery might make you blush.